What my 3 year old says when the gears in his head are spinning. So this is a place for me to "spin my gears" (post my thoughts)... OK, fast forward 3 years because my 3 year old is now six years old. I will keep the title the same, though, in honor of his having been three years old once!

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

An Adventure with Little P and a Prayer Request

Adventure with Little P: Artoklassia and Wine (A Russian Tale). So, we spent last Friday evening in Yakima, WA with some friends. We went to Annunciation services at their church (Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church) in the evening (it was a vesperal Liturgy). At the end of the service, there was an artoklassia (five loaves of bread as an offering) service (usually done on feast days or name days). In the Russian practice, when you receive your artoklassia at the end of the service, you dip it in a cup of wine. Well, this was all new to Little P (and a little new for mommy, since I have not spent much time outside of Greek churches). Little P, whose favorite line of the day currently is “My Can Do It” wanted to dip his own bread in the wine. Now, the deacon, who was holding the cup of wine, was fine with that. Until Little P decided to not just dip his bread, but dunk his bread. I rescued the wine-soaked bread from the cup (and set it on top of my own piece of bread and, thus, did not have to dip my bread in the wine). We proceeded to the back of the church to eat our wine soaked bread. Little P seemed to like it. But, in this whole process, I forgot to get my little cup of wine (hmmm, I kind of like these Russian wine practices). What an adventure!

Please pray for us… no, not for our homebuying (that seems to be going well), but for our fertility (our spritual father suggested that we ask people to pray for us). I went in to the doctor because my cycle seems to be getting all out of whack (sorry, guys, if this is too personal for you). We began to talk about the miscarriages that I have had and how long we have been trying to have a baby, etc. I walked out of that appointment with a referral for a reproductive endocrinologist (and they have discovered a cyst on my left ovary). Because I have lupus, she felt that I already had things going against me being able to conceive (normally, you have to wait at least one year from when you begin to “try” for a baby to get a referral… we have been trying for about 1 ½ years, but I did get pregnant last summer and lost that baby). Anyway, I have a blessing to at least go and hear what this other doctor has to say. We have also been praying to St. Nektarios and St. Anna (mother of the Theotokos) and anointing me with oil from both Saints. Through every hardship, there is some good… All of this has led me, though, to be very thankful for my Little P. I had a miscarriage right before I became pregnant with him. Then his pregnancy was fairly smooth (why his middle name is Nektarios). And now I have the privilege of being his mommy (well, I have been his mommy for almost three years now). And that is truly a blessing!

4 comments:

This reminds me of my first experience receiving wine with hot water following receiving the Holy Eucharist at a Monastery.

This practice was new to me; I was handed the small cup filled with wine mixed with hot water; I then drank the entire cup. My buddy who was behind me fared better... The Father after seeing my practice must have realized we needed some instruction and so he told my friend that he just needed to take a sip.

When I later returned to the Monastery with my little boy, I was sure to give him the 'heads up' and told him that he just needed to take a sip.

Pavlos is very fortunate to have such loving parents. While he certainly deserves a sibling or two, he will, at the very least, surely blossom into a gracious young man from the example of his thankful, loving and godly parents.